Baked articles such as sweet rolls, muffins, cakes, pie crusts, doughnuts, and the like are typically made from dough compositions comprising flour, water, and leavening agents (e.g., yeast or a chemical leavening agent). After baking, the baked articles go through a change that makes them organoleptically less acceptable to consumers. This change is typically referred to as staling, and can include both flavor loss and loss of crumb softness. Staling occurs when the starch molecules crystallize or “retrograde.” Starch retrogradation refers to a process where molecules of gelatinized starch reassociate in an ordered structure. In the initial phase, two or more starch molecular chains form a simple juncture point that develops into more extensively ordered regions. Ultimately, this crystalline ordering causes the baked article to become stale.
Conventionally, preservatives and humectants have been used to retard staling and improve the shelf life of baked articles. Although these materials can be effective, improved dough compositions that can be baked to form baked articles having an extended shelf life are highly desirable.